Pride march returns to Weston after three years
BBCA Pride event has returned to Weston-super-Mare after a three-year absence.
Event coordinator Sarah Hammond told the BBC the event was organised to show people "that intolerance and bigotry will not be stood for".
It comes after vandals cut ropes and damaged a mechanism on the town council's flagpoles in Grove Park and the Italian Gardens which were displaying pride flags while a micropub on the High Street said its pride flags had been torn down.
Leader of Weston-super-Mare Town Council Ciaran Cronnelly said it was a "good example that there still remains prejudices".
He also thanked the organisers, saying it was "not an easy gig to organise something of this scale".
The event was organised with just six months' notice, after Hammond thought it was "a massive shame" that the town didn't have its own Pride.
"There had been a lack of volunteers willing to organise it, so I started asking around who was doing Pride, and the and the answer is now me - I'm doing Pride," she said.
She also agreed with Cronnelly, saying: "Both online and unfortunately even at national level, things are becoming increasingly unpleasant for members of our community."
Attendee Luna Jay said it was her first Pride event, and that she found it "really exciting to meet other people", while her friend Poppy Tornabene said everyone was "coming together to celebrate the day".
"It started with the Stonewall riots, which is important to remember in our history, the reason why we need Pride because of so much hate and prejudice against us as people who are just existing and being our authentic selves," she added.
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